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Tag Archives: yarn

It is weird for the first sale, I am stressing out to the point where I don’t sleep and I ended up having anixety. But the second sale, I felt totally. Now granted, the zen could from the muscle relaxers and cold medication.

You know of what happened in the first sale, didn’t make much of a sale and hurted my back and hips. Which is why I took the muscle relaxers. Then I caught a cold which came with the cold medication. So yes, the zen feeling probably being stoned.

Last week was my last sale of 2017 and it went really well. That is my mother in the picture enjoying her bagel and coffee.

I sold out all of the mini stockings, some hats, and scarves. Then we gave most of our stuff to Koda’s Kountry for them to sell. They are toying with the idea of doing an Easter sale which I am told them that I am all for it.

And this time, I was smart by taking advil during the sale so my back wasn’t killing me. Although I was sure stiff as a bone when I left. Our friend J stopped by at the end and she helped us packed us. We were also smart of waiting until everyone was gone so we were able to move our car closer instead of walking a distance back and forth. I know exercise is good for you, but not in the snow and ice.

So what are my plans now, you ask. So beside enjoy Christmas with my family. I am going to start looking for ideas for Easter and clean out my studio. I have another idea in the works, but I rather not say anything yet. I am still looking into it and trying to figure it out.

I know it has been awhile . . . again since I last post. I have been still dealing with back problems and cleaning. This is my next big cleaning up project.

The clean stamps. I foresee a few slurpees and chocolates just to get through it. It is a complete mess.

Although a funny note is while I was sorting out my buttons, this truck button was stuck in this jar. I eventually got it out with a help from a friend. But still that question still remains, how the heck did it get in there if I can’t get it out. Good grief.

However I have participated in a few art exchanges. One was favourite quote on an ATC and we had to used a playing card. This was mine and the second one was the one I received from the exchanged. I went alittle overboard because I completely covered the playing card.

The quote is from Maya Angelou, “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”

These two are birthday cards for my nieces. I cannot believe one of them turned 18, ghee, it didn’t seem so long ago when she was playing with Barbie.

I did do a delivery for Koda’s Kountry for Easter. And please excuse my big toe in the shot

The sale came and went. It wasn’t my best sale, but it wasn’t the worst. Unless you asked my back, and it will tell you it was. Sitting in that hard chair for over 6 hours, despite the fact, that I did walk around and go to the bathroom. But I think I might have strained it because it was still hurting two days later. And I was taking some pretty heavy painkillers. I don’t like taking those painkillers unless I am in really bad pain. And I was.

What did me in, besides the chair, was there was a booth next to us. The ladies were selling cards for a $1. And yes, you are reading it right. So who wants to buy a $3 card where there are cards selling for a $1 each. I only sold one card.

I didn’t sell any dishcloths which I was surprised.

Then again, last year, I had 4 cards for $6 and 3 dishcloths for $5. And with the cost of material going up, I had to raised my prices.

A from the store in Bentley was happy that I was actually raising my prices. It is hard to figure out of the prices on cards. Sure, I can figure out the cost of paper and stickers. But when it comes to ink or a stamp. How do I factor in those costs. Obviously, I cannot throw in the price of an inkpad on every card.

But she wasn’t happy about those ladies. She told me that she always tried to sit people who are selling the same craft across the room. Not side by side. And she couldn’t believe that they were selling their cards for $1.

But I did get a bonus. A gave me an envelope punch. I’ve been dying to get my hands on one, but they are like $40. So I am happy and been waiting for a time to try it out. Also to send a picture to J to make her jealous. Petty, I know. But oh well, blame it on the painkillers. The problem is waiting until my back is better. I am still make a couple of cards. Besides it is a good excuse to try out the punch, but I have to bring some to my hairdresser next week. And make one for J, the fellow cardmaker. So yeah, no pressure.

I do not represent any company that I may mention in this post. No company has asked or offered me money to give them my opinion. The only company I do represent is Original Things. I am doing this post based on my opinion and experiences in hope to help you all.

Now that part is done with. I noticed that most of the people who are participating in this Cheap Art Supply Challenge had also voiced their opinion on them. I thought I should do the same.

With cheap art supplies, it is a love/hate relationship for me. I love the price, but sometimes the quality stinks. So why do we use it? Money is one reason. When I was teaching, I used to show my students options of using less expensive supplies or doing it less expensively. I would tell them;

We are not cheap.

We’re broke.

Almost everyone of us have bills to pay, rent, food, gas, and etc. So sometimes, we can’t afford to buy Coptic markers or Prism pencil crayons.

Second reason is experience. The best way that I can describe this is by this example. You had never driven a car in your entire life. You never taken any lessons or even been behind the wheel. And no, the video games that have driving are the worst example. I know a 3 year old who plays those games and she gets a kick everytime when she crashes into the wall or run over someone.

There is no way on this entire planet I am going to hand you keys to Lamborghini or an Aston Martin to learn how to drive. I will hand over keys to a less expensive car that may be considered a “clunker.” Because you will hit the curb, you will hit the cement bars in parking lots and etc. And don’t get me started on parallel parking. In my parents’ home, there is a dent on the garage door railing from me in my first year of driving. And our neighbour’s tree still has damage when I ran into it (that one, the brake pedal fell off).

It will be at least a year from the day you get your license before I even consider of handing you over the keys. And you have to know of how to drive in extreme weather conditions like blizzards and tornados.

So that basically why you would use cheap art supplies, to practise your skill and get the experience. I have been drawing and painting for over 30 years and I still use cheap art supplies. Yes, money has been tight. But I used them for my art journaling, sketching out ideas for cards and such. Or practising shading and coloring.

However back to the example, some of the “clunkers”cars are actually good cars. The rich and famous people may see my car is a clunker, and yes it does have a dent when I hit the sign last year. I should stop talking about my driving. Anyway, but my car is good, it is great on gas, looks nice (minus the dent), and it gets to me A, B, and C. Would I love to drive a Lamborghini, heck yes. But I do not have a couple of million dollars in my bank account. Nevertheless, I am willingly to bet you driving that car will feel and act the same as my car. Granted I never driven one, so I am just guessing.

In yarn world, there are good and inexpensive yarn like Vanna’s Choice, Bernat Supersaver, and Michaels Impeccable yarn. I have personally used all of those yarns and been very satisfied with them. There are yarns that are cheaper than the ones that I name, but they are so scratchy, and uncomfortable to knit and crochet with. In fact, I would love to use a flame torch on them and be rid of them once and for all.

In the art world, we have Artist’s Loft, Recollection, and even Crayola. Again, I used all of them and I have almost nothing against them. All good and less expensive brands.

But this is where the hate comes in for me. As long you follow the care instruction of the yarn, things should be ok. But with the art supplies, that is a different story. I cannot speak for Artist’s Loft or Recollections, but I have been told this about Crayola.

Crayola is not light safe. What that means in time, the colors will fade, even under glass. I am not sure if fixative will work.

So if I was doing a painting for my boyfriend, or for a family member as a gift. (By the way, that would make one great present) I would go with the expensive art supplies, the one that I know is light safe. I want 20 or 30 years down the road, someone points out my painting to someone, they can say, “Your grandma Lesley did when she was your age.” I want that painting to look the same as the day they received it.

You may recall that I did a post about this ball of yarn and that I had no idea of what to do with it. And that I have a yarn addiction that I do go shopping to get a fix. But mainly, what should I do with this ball. What should I make?

I do not know why this link will not work. So you have to copy and paste it yourself. Good grief.

But nevertheless, here is the scarf. I ended up making it into a cowl. Something simple and easy.

In other news, I finished a step in the prize album for the Christmas Sale in Bentley. I am currently waiting on supplies, but I thought I would give everyone a sneak peek. I am really proud of myself that I might have to make myself one.

I know that it has been months since I last wrote. I have been super busy and going through some personal stuff. And unfortunately, I know that the next few months is going to be really insane for me. So this is a quick post to let you know that I haven’t forgotten about you guys, just been busy.

One of the things that I have been doing is cleaning out my yarn collection. I have 7 huge plastic bins of yarn, two storage ziplock bags, a trunk full of yarn, and not to mention the little boxes around the house, full of yarn. Then my hairdresser gave me some yarn that one of her other customers gave her. And when I said some yarn, I mean two huge boxes. My plan is to try to get the yarn down to 5 plastic bins and maybe a couple of small decorative boxes. Those boxes are by the couch where I watch tv.

That is bag number 3 and 4 that I had sent to donation. There is a church here that is looking for yarn donation so they can knit blankets and other items for the homeless. I already been going through my patterns to see of what to take off my list of things that I want to knit and crochet. So far, I had removed 65 items. I am still wittering down the list.

I have been doing some art journaling lately in order to relax. One of the journal prompts is to do 4 backgrounds, don’t think about it, just do it.

That is fingerpainting with modeling paste. Actually I had fun doing that. It reminding me when I was kid. I am tempted to pick up some fingerpaint, but I easily use my acrylic paint.

I used Dylusion spray with my own alchol sprays.

This one, I did some thought into it because I had to pick out the paper from my scrap box and of course, cutting them into shapes.

I used white glue resist technique and Tim Holtz Distress paint. I am thinking this is going to be an underwater scene.

I had this pattern paper for years and I had no idea of what to do with it. I finally put a coat of thin white paint just to tone it down. I am thinking of using the one word prompt challenge. But so far, I haven’t found a word that I like. I have been using one word generators on the computer, but the words they come up are either ones that I have no idea of what it means, or hard to do. For example, how I can art journal about flinching, bending, or northern. I want art journal to relax me, not to stress me out.

Have you seen those tv shows where you meet hoarders and seen their houses. How their stuff is piled to the ceiling and you have to climb over stuff to get to the door or even to the bathroom? Well today, I admit that I am a hoarder.

Relax; my stuff is not piled to the ceiling. I am a hoarder of yarn and it is in 7 plastic bins, a ziplock storage bag, my trunk, and several baskets. Someone asked me if I toss out any yarns. Believe it or not, I do. If the yarn is too tangled that I know it is going to take me a couple of days to de-tangled and migrane, that goes into the garbage. Some of my friends surprised that I saved all of my scraps.

The small balls, I used them for my Scrap-ghan blanket, or my scrappy bear and bunny.

Or if they are bigger, I make squares for my cozy and idiot squares blanket.

The little scraps of yarn, if they are longer than 12 inches, I keep them. Now I am know everyone who is reading this is going to be questioning my sanity . . . . again.

But there is a method to my madness. The squares have to be sewn together. And what do you sew them together with??? Yarn.

As well as anyone who had sold things, they would all agreed with me that you need price tags. So again, with strings, I used them to attach the price tags or care instructions to my products

In other news, I have surgery scheduled at the end of June to removed my gall bladder removed. Hopefully afterward, my life can back to normal and I can start participating craft sales.